January 16, 2026
Friday of the First Week in
Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 309
Reading
I
All the elders of
Israel came in a body to Samuel at Ramah
and said to him, “Now that you are old,
and your sons do not follow your example,
appoint a king over us, as other nations have, to judge us.”
Samuel was displeased when they asked for a king to judge them.
He prayed to the LORD, however, who said in answer:
“Grant the people’s every request.
It is not you they reject, they are rejecting me as their king.”
Samuel delivered the message of the LORD in full
to those who were asking him for a king.
He told them:
“The rights of the king who will rule you will be as follows:
He will take your sons and assign them to his chariots and horses,
and they will run before his chariot.
He will also appoint from among them his commanders of groups
of a thousand and of a hundred soldiers.
He will set them to do his plowing and his harvesting,
and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.
He will use your daughters as ointment makers, as cooks, and as bakers.
He will take the best of your fields, vineyards, and olive groves,
and give them to his officials.
He will tithe your crops and your vineyards,
and give the revenue to his eunuchs and his slaves.
He will take your male and female servants,
as well as your best oxen and your asses,
and use them to do his work.
He will tithe your flocks and you yourselves will become his slaves.
When this takes place,
you will complain against the king whom you have chosen,
but on that day the LORD will not answer you.”
The people, however, refused to listen to Samuel’s warning and said,
“Not so! There must be a king over us.
We too must be like other nations,
with a king to rule us and to lead us in warfare
and fight our battles.”
When Samuel had listened to all the people had to say,
he repeated it to the LORD, who then said to him,
“Grant their request and appoint a king to rule them.”
Responsorial
Psalm
R. (2) For
ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
Blessed the people who know the joyful shout;
in the
light of your countenance, O LORD, they walk.
At your name they rejoice all the day,
and
through your justice they are exalted.
R. For ever I will sing the
goodness of the Lord.
For you are the splendor of their strength,
and by
your favor our horn is exalted.
For to the LORD belongs our shield,
and to
the Holy One of Israel, our King.
R. For ever I will sing the
goodness of the Lord.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
A great prophet has arisen in our midst
and God has visited his people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
When Jesus
returned to Capernaum after some days,
it became known that he was at home.
Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them,
not even around the door,
and he preached the word to them.
They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.
Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd,
they opened up the roof above him.
After they had broken through,
they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him,
“Child, your sins are forgiven.”
Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves,
“Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming.
Who but God alone can forgive sins?”
Jesus immediately knew in his mind what
they were thinking to themselves,
so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts?
Which is easier, to say to the paralytic,
‘Your sins are forgiven,’
or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk’?
But that you may know
that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth”
–he said to the paralytic,
“I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.”
He rose, picked up his mat at once,
and went away in the sight of everyone.
They were all astounded
and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011626.cfm
Commentary on 1
Samuel 8:4-7,10-22
We begin reading today about Samuel and his involvement with
Saul and the institution of the monarchy in Israel. The institution of the
monarchy was a major turning point in Israel’s political and religious history.
The sanctuary of the Ark of the Covenant in Shiloh had been destroyed and unity
was in danger as the Philistine threat increased. Some of the people began
asking:
…appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other
nations.
Others held the opposite view that Yahweh, Israel’s only
lord, should be left to provide leaders as circumstances required, as he had
done in the days of the Judges.
These two schools of thought find a voice in anti-royalist
(see chaps 8, 10:17-24, and 12) and royalist (chaps 9:1-10:16 and 11) versions
of the institution of the monarchy, here placed side by side.
While the royalist view (which we will see in tomorrow’s
reading from Samuel) will ultimately prevail, Saul, the first king, is scarcely
distinguishable from the Judges who preceded him. The monarchy will only
achieve its full development with David. He is one of the outstanding
characters of the whole Bible, and in him the religious and civil functions of
the Israelite monarchy will be harmoniously combined. David will be able to
combine his political responsibilities with his service of the Lord. However,
none of his successors will achieve this ideal. David, and really David alone
(in spite of his serious weaknesses), remains the model of the future King
through whom God is to bring about the salvation of his people, namely the
Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed of the Lord.
As today’s reading opens we find the elders of the people
approaching Samuel and telling him that, in view of his old age (and, it might
be added, the corrupt behaviour of his sons), they should have a king. It soon
becomes apparent, however, that the more basic reason for their request was a
desire to be like the surrounding nations—to have a human king as a symbol of
national power and unity who would lead them in battle and guarantee their
security. As a loose conglomerate of tribes, they would never be able to deal
effectively with their enemies (who had kings). Israel had suffered a number of
calamitous defeats at the hands of its old nemesis, the Philistines, and the
people saw that what was needed was a powerful leader as a strong unifying and
rallying point.
There were two reactions to this innovation of having a
king—one against and one in favour. Some would say they were forgetting that
they were not like other nations. By their desire to appoint a human king they
were, in a way, setting aside their real Lord. Israel had always been a
theocracy where only God was its King and Lord, and where the idea of a human
king seemed almost blasphemous. On the other hand, there were those who, for
political reasons and even for the people’s survival, emphasised the need for a
single, strong ruler.
In today’s reading we see the anti-royalist view. The
misgivings of the anti-royalists are seen in Samuel’s displeasure at the
people’s asking for a king. God is not happy, but he tells Samuel to let the
people have their way:
Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to
you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king
over them.
The sin of Israel in requesting a king did not rest in any
evil inherent in kingship itself, but rather in the kind of kingship the people
envisioned and their reasons for requesting it.
Their desire was for a form of kingship that denied their
covenant relationship with the Lord, who himself was pledged to be their
saviour and deliverer. In requesting a king “like all nations” they broke the
covenant, rejected the Lord who was their King, and forgot his constant
provision for their protection in the past.
In a rather sarcastic tone, Samuel proceeds to tell the
people all the ‘advantages’ they will accrue by having a king. His description
reflects not so much what happened under Saul or David, but in a later period
beginning with Solomon, and reflects the bitter experience of the writer’s own
generation. Later on, we will see how terrible some of those kings really were.
Samuel warns them that virtual slavery will be upon them,
saying:
These will be the ways of the king who will reign over
you:
-He will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots
and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots.
-He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and
commanders of fifties and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest and
to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.
-He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks
and bakers.
-He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and
olive orchards and give them to his courtiers.
-He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your
vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers.
-He will take your male and female slaves and the best of
your cattle and donkeys and put them to his work.
-He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be
his slaves.
Then, and only then, will the people complain to God, but it
will be too late:
And on that day you will cry out because of your king,
whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you on that
day.
They have made their own bed and will have to sleep in it.
Only the king will enjoy rights; the people will have duties and obligations.
In fact, the demands of the king would parallel all that Israel was expected to
consecrate to the Lord as her Great King (persons, lands, crops,
livestock)—even the whole population. But now it is going to be given to a very
fallible and sometimes wicked human being.
For now, the people will not listen to Samuel’s arguments.
They are determined to have a king like their neighbours who will lead them to
war and fight their battles. And God said:
Listen to their voice and set a king over them.
Samuel then tells the people to go back to their own cities
and towns.
We, too, can be very insistent in asking God to give us
something we feel we really need. Yet, when it comes we may bitterly regret the
consequences. Sometimes what we take to be the answer to a prayer may only be
the fruit of our own persistence. But whatever happens, wherever our choices
have led us, God is always there. It is always in our present situation, in the
here-and-now, that we must learn to respond to his call. Even our mistakes can
become moments of grace and enlightenment.
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Commentary on Mark
2:1-12
After some days, Jesus returns to Capernaum from his refuge
in the desert. Immediately the crowds gather in and around the house where he
is staying. It is so crowded that there is no room to get in or out. The
‘house’ is not identified and it is not important. In the early Christian
communities, they gathered in one house to celebrate the Eucharist. Jesus was
there among them. Some people are inside the house with Jesus; others are still
on the outside.
Then, four men arrived carrying a paralytic friend. They
were anxious to get to Jesus. Seeing no way in, they went up by the outside
staircase and on to the flat roof, removed a few tiles, and let the man down right
at the feet of Jesus.
Jesus is touched by their faith, trust and confidence in
him—all essential conditions for healing. Jesus says to the paralysed man:
Child, your sins are forgiven.
This must have been a surprising statement to the paralytic.
He had come for healing, not forgiveness. Some scribes who were also present
were not only surprised, they were deeply shocked, thinking contemptuously to
themselves:
Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy!
Who can forgive sins but God alone?
They are perfectly right, but their eyes are closed to
drawing the obvious conclusion. They don’t see because they do not want to see,
because—even worse—they think they can see. Even today, we meet Christians like
that, who are convinced they and they alone are in sole possession of the
‘truth’.
Jesus, knowing their thoughts then challenges them:
Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is
easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up
and take your mat and walk’?
Then he tells the man:
I say to you, stand up, take your mat, and go to your
home.
Of course, telling a person their sins are forgiven is
certainly easier, but does the fact that Jesus could heal the paralytic
instantly also mean that his sins were forgiven?
We need to realise the close links the Jews of the time made
between sin and sickness. Many kinds of sickness were seen as punishment for
personal sin or even the sins of parents (see also the story of the man born
blind in John’s Gospel, chap 9). The man in this present story was understood
to be paralysed because of some sin in his life. If Jesus could clearly remove
the illness, then the cause of the illness was also being taken away. In so
doing, Jesus makes it clear that in forgiving the man’s sin, he was not
blaspheming. He was what he claimed to be.
In our time, we realise that there can be a link between
physical illness and the way we act and relate with people. We know that there
is a mutual influence between our thinking and our attitudes, feelings and
behaviour. Some sicknesses can be psychosomatic, or might result from stress or
an imbalance in our relationships with others, our work or our environment. The
words holiness, wholeness, health and healing all have a common root. The whole
person, one in whom all parts are in perfect harmony, is the truly holy person.
That wholeness is something we need to pray and work for.
The paralysed man represents all those who are paralysed in other ways, those
who are not able to behave with the freedom that a well-integrated person has.
And that integration and wholeness concerns our relations with others, with
ourselves, with our environment and, of course, with God.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o2016g/
Friday, January 16,
2026
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Father of love, hear our prayers.
Help us to know your will and to do it with courage and faith.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Mark 2: 1-12
When he returned to Capernaum,
sometime later word went round that he was in the house; and so many people
collected that there was no room left, even in front of the door. He was
preaching the word to them when some people came bringing him a paralytic
carried by four men, but as they could not get the man to him through the
crowd, they stripped the roof over the place where Jesus was; and when they had
made an opening, they lowered the stretcher on which the paralytic lay. Seeing
their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, 'My child, your sins are forgiven.'
Now some scribes were sitting there, and they
thought to themselves, 'How can this man talk like that? He is being
blasphemous. Who but God can forgive sins?'
And at once, Jesus, inwardly aware that this is what they were
thinking, said to them, 'Why do you have these thoughts in your hearts? Which
of these is easier: to say to the paralytic, "Your sins are forgiven"
or to say, "Get up, pick up your stretcher and walk"? But to prove to
you that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth' - he said to
the paralytic -'I order you: get up, pick up your stretcher, and go off home.'
And the man got up, and at once picked up his stretcher and walked out in front
of everyone, so that they were all astonished and praised God saying, 'We have
never seen anything like this.'
Reflection
•
In Mark 1: 1-15, Mark shows how the Good News of
God should be prepared and spread. In Mark 1: 16-45, he indicates which is the
objective of the Good
News
and which is the mission of the community. Now, in Mk 2: 1 to 3: 6 there
is the effect of the proclamation of
the Good News. A community faithful to the Gospel lives values which are in
contrast with the interests of the society which surrounds it. This is why one
of the effects of the proclamation of the Good News, is the conflict with those
who defend the interests of society. Mark gathers together five conflicts which
the proclamation of the Good News brought to Jesus.
•
In the year 70, the time when he wrote his
Gospel, there were many conflicts in the life of the communities, but they did
not always know how to behave before the accusations which they received from
the Roman authorities and from the Jewish leaders. This series of five
conflicts found in Mk 2: 1 to 3: 6 served as a guide to orientate the
communities, those of the past as well as those of today. Because the conflict
is not an incident of the road, even if it forms part of the journey.
•
The following is the outline of the five
conflicts which Mark presents in his Gospel: Texts conflict:
•
1st conflict: Mk 2: 1-12
•
2nd conflict: Mk 2: 13-17
•
3rd conflict: Mk 2: 18-22
•
4th conflict: Mk 2: 23-28
•
5th conflict: Mk 3: 1-6 Adversaries of Jesus:
•
Scribes
•
The Scribes of the Pharisees
•
The disciples of John and the Pharisees
•
The Pharisees
•
The Pharisees and the Herodians Cause of the conflict:
•
Forgiveness of sins
•
To eat with sinners
•
The practice of fasting
•
Observance of Saturday
•
To cure on Saturday • The
solidarity of the friends obtains for the paralytic the forgiveness of sins.
Jesus is returning to Capernaum. Many people gather before the door of the
house. He accepts everybody and begins to teach them. To teach, to speak of
God, was what Jesus did the most. A paralytic, carried by four persons,
arrived. Jesus is their only hope. They do not doubt to go up and make an
opening in the roof over the place where Jesus was. It must have been a poor
house, the roof, mud covered with leaves. They lowered the stretcher with the
man, before Jesus. Jesus, seeing their faith, says to the paralytic: seeing
their faith, says to the paralytic: your sins are forgiven you. At that time
people thought that physical defects (paralytic) were a punishment from God for
any sin that had been committed. The Doctors of the Law taught that the person
remained impure and therefore, incapable of getting close to God. For this
reason, the sick, the poor, the paralytics, felt that they were rejected by
God! But Jesus did not think this way. Such a great faith was an evident sign
of the fact that the paralytic was accepted by God. And for this reason, he
declares: “Your sins are forgiven you!” With this affirmation Jesus denies that
the paralysis was a punishment due to the sin of the man.
•
Jesus is accused of blasphemy by those who held
power. The affirmation of Jesus was contrary to the catechism of the time. It
was not in accordance with the idea that they had of God. And because of this
they react against and accuse Jesus: he blasphemes! According to them only God
could forgive sins. And only the priest could declare someone forgiven and
purified. How could it be that Jesus, a man without studies, a lay person, a
simple carpenter, could declare persons forgiven and purified of their sins?
And there was also another reason which pushed them to criticize Jesus. They
had thought: “If it is true what Jesus says, we will lose our power! We will
lose our source of income.”
•
By curing, Jesus shows that he also has the
power to forgive sins. Jesus perceives the criticism. This is why he asks:
“Which of these is easier to say to the paralytic: Your sins are forgiven you,
or to say, Get up, pick up your stretcher and walk!? It is easier to say: “Your
sins are forgiven you.” Because nobody can verify if truly the sins have been
forgiven or not. But if I tell him: “Get up and walk!”, there, all can see if I
have or not the power to heal. And in order to show that he had the power to
forgive sins, in the name of God, Jesus says to the paralytic: Get up, take up
your stretcher and go off home! He cures the man! And thus, through a miracle
he taught that the paralysis of the man was not a punishment from God, and he
showed that the faith of the poor is a proof that God accepts them in his love.
•
The message of the miracle and the reaction of
people. The paralytic gets up, he takes his stretcher, and begins to walk, and
all say: “We have never seen anything like this!” This miracle reveals three
very important things: a) The sicknesses of persons are not a punishment for
sins. b) Jesus opens a new way to reach God. What the system called impurity
was no more an obstacle for persons to get close to God. c) The face of God
revealed through the attitude of Jesus was different from the severe face of
God revealed by the attitude of the Doctors.
•
This reminds us of what a drug addict said once
he had recovered and who is now a member of a community in Curitiba, Brazil: “I
grew up in the Catholic religion. I abandoned it. My parents were good
practicing Catholics and wanted us, their children to be like them. People were
obliged always to go to Church, every Sunday and every feast day. And when one
did not go, they would say: “God will punish you.” I went because this was
imposed upon me, and when I became an adult, I no longer went to Mass. I did
not like the God of my parents. I could not understand that God, the Creator of
the world, could extend over me, a small child, threatening me with the punishment
of hell. I liked much more the God of my uncle who never went to Church, but
who every day, and I repeat, every day, bought twice as much bread than what he
ate, in order to give to the poor!”
Personal Questions
•
Do you like the God of the uncle or the God of
the parents of the ex-drug addict?
•
Which is the face of God that others discover in
my behavior?
Concluding Prayer
What we have heard and know, what our
ancestors have told us we shall not conceal from their descendants, but will
tell to a generation still to come: the praises of Yahweh, his power, the
wonderful deeds he has done. (Ps 78: 3-4)
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